Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies.

Abstract

Neuroelectric and imaging studies of meditation are reviewed. Electroencephalographic measures indicate an overall slowing subsequent to meditation, with theta and alpha activation related to proficiency of practice. Sensory evoked potential assessment of concentrative meditation yields amplitude and latency changes for some components and practices. Cognitive event-related potential evaluation of meditation implies that practice changes attentional allocation. Neuroimaging studies indicate increased regional cerebral blood flow measures during meditation. Taken together, meditation appears to reflect changes in anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal areas. Neurophysiological meditative state and trait effects are variable but are beginning to demonstrate consistent outcomes for research and clinical applications. Psychological and clinical effects of meditation are summarized, integrated, and discussed with respect to neuroimaging data.

Reduced functional connectivity between cortical sources in five meditation traditions detected with lagged coherence using EEG tomography

“…How may the observed general reduction of functional connectivity explain the major subjective experiences during meditation: On one hand the non-involvement of the self in momentary thoughts or percepts, and on the other hand the expansion of self consciousness (Cahn and Polich, 2006)? We propose the following speculative explanation: Because of the reduced internal connectivity of the functions of the self process, their processing of information coming from other processes is curtailed; this leads to a subjective experience which is described for example as non-involvement, detachment, and letting go.…”

“…Many physiological and psychological aspects of meditation practice have been reported applying very different measurement and analysis approaches (e.g. Luders et al, 2009;Lutz et al, 22009;van den Hurk et al, 2010; for an earlier review of the extended literature see Cahn and Polich, 2006).…”

“…On the other hand, apparently there are common goals resulting in common subjective experiences of the meditation practices across schools and traditions (Brewer et al, 2011;Cahn and Polich, 2006;Fischer, 1971;Goleman, 1996;Hinterberger et al, 2011;Kabat-Zinn, 1990;Walsh, 1982): The handling of the contents of consciousness (avoiding intruding unintended thoughts as described in terms such as e.g. letting go, benevolent disregard, detachment), and the quality of the conscious self-awareness (attaining a pleasant, peaceful state of mind as described in terms such as all-oneness, bliss, oceanic feeling, transcending, expanded consciousness).…”

Effect of mindfulness meditation on brain–computer interface performance

“…Any means of improving the effectiveness with which people can use BCI devices could dramatically improve their lives. A candidate is mindfulness meditation because of its claimed ability to lead to better self-regulation (Cahn & Polich, 2006;Sedlmeier et al, 2012), though relatively few studies have compared its effects to an active control treatment of equivalent plausibility (see Jensen, Vangkilde, Frokjaer, & Hasselbalch, 2012, for a recent exception). This paper will explore the use of mindfulness meditation in gaining better control of BCI devices, above and beyond expectation effects.…”

“…In general, meditation can be categorized into two basic approaches depending on how the attentional processes are directed: concentrative-based meditation and mindfulness-based meditation (Cahn & Polich, 2006). While concentration-based meditation focuses the attention on a single stimulus, mindfulness meditation involves observation of constantly changing internal and external stimuli as they arise (Baer, 2003).…”